NY state attorney general sues TikTok

State Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against TikTok’s parent company on Tuesday morning. In a press release announcing the new lawsuit, James accused TikTok of “misleading the public about the safety of its platform and harming young people’s mental health.”

James filed the lawsuit as part of a coalition of 13 other attorneys general, who each filed similar lawsuits against TikTok in their respective state courts. James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta are leading the coalition, which also includes the attorneys general of Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia.

“In New York and across the country, young people have died or gotten injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges and many more are feeling more sad, anxious, and depressed because of TikTok’s addictive features,” James said in a statement. “ Today, we are suing TikTok to protect young people and help combat the nationwide youth mental health crisis. Kids and families across the country are desperate for help to address this crisis, and we are doing everything in our power to protect them.”

James’ lawsuit accuses the app of falsely claiming to be a safe space for children, while ignoring how its “addictive features” have led children to struggle with their mental health and how its promotion of “challenges” have resulted in young people being hurt or killed. 

The lawsuit was filed under New York Executive Law Section 63(12), a broad anti-fraud law that allows the attorney general’s office to bring cases against companies accused of repeated fraud or illegal acts. It’s the same law that James’ office previously used to go after the Trump Organization. 

The suit accuses TikTok of falsely claiming that its app is safer for children and misleading the public about the efficacy of its safety tools, such as its “Refresh” and “Restricted Mode” features that are meant to limit inappropriate content. 

James and the other attorneys general call out a host of addictive TikTok features – including frequent in-app notifications,, autoplaying video that cannot be disabled, temporary “stories” and Live videos that draw users to engage with the app immediately and highlighted “likes” and comments sections – that they allege are designed to maximize young people’s screen time in order to sell more ads targeted at users under 18 years old. 

The suit also highlights the impact of TikTok “challenges” that encourage young users to perform dangerous and illegal acts (such as the Kia/Hyundai challenge, which encouraged hotwiring cars), and it cites studies showing that young people’s use of face filters on social media apps is correlated with body-image issues and can lead to body dysmorphia and eating disorders.

The latest lawsuit against TikTok is part of James’ broader push for stronger regulations on social media companies. Her office helped to draft a bill, which was passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul this year, limiting minors’ use of addictive social media feeds in New York. James has frequently joined with her fellow state attorneys general to go after social media companies.

In September, James helped lead a group of 42 state attorney generals who urged Congress to mandate the inclusion of warning labels on social media apps, following a recommendation by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office. In March, James directed a different coalition of 41 state attorney generals who called for Meta to address the rise in scammers and frauds on Facebook and Instagram. In December, James led a group of 22 state attorney generals to submit an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding state regulation of social media apps. And last October, James joined with a bipartisan group of 32 attorney generals to file a federal lawsuit against Meta for allegedly harming children’s mental health.